The Sound of Silence
Who are we? Why do we matter? Why us? Why SOS?
Here’s an answer. Based in New Jersey, we are a group of students from West Windsor. As students, we can see that our voices are in trouble, and everywhere we look we notice people who are oblivious to the fact that they have a voice. Under the surface, we believe students should have the biggest impact on their lives and educations, but that they aren’t always represented in decisions that directly affect them. To solve this, we aim to advocate for student voice in our school and beyond alongside helping students to discover their own voice. We are unique not because we are different, but because we experience the lack of student voice every day. As common students of TGMS, every day we notice something or realize something that could be solved through student inclusion, and we want to bring this into the open. Help us break the silence. Help us hear the sound of student voice.
Thomas Grover Middle School
Currently, our work is limited to the West Windsor-Plainsboro regional school district. Although we do hope to expand very soon, we are beginning by spreading awareness and advocating/integrating student inclusion in our very own school: TGMS!
Weekly Newsletters
Stay updated with our weekly newsletters that highlight student achievements, upcoming events, and important announcements.
The CEE Principles of SOS
SOS’s entire mission is based on the CEE principles.
Our mission is to foster an environment where student advocacy thrives, promoting engagement and representation in all school activities. To do this, we first need to Communicate the issue, Engage our stakeholders, and finally, Elevate.
Communication
The communication phase is to spread awareness of student voice to students, parents, teachers, and the community as a whole. To do this, our weekly newsletters can be found on social media platforms and on this very website. In addition, we have also done competitions and hosted events to spread our project.
Engage
Engagement is developing a connection between students and their schooling system. Our future club and Student Decision Committee will provide students with a space to discuss issues, and propose ideas to the community including a link to West Windsor’s town council.
Elevate
Finally, elevation. This means bringing student voice to a firm and lasting level. This includes student representation on school decision making committees (like the Jag Council at Grover), creating ties with parents and student councils, etc.